Short Summary

The persecution of the Negro erupted again in Alabama, the old slave state in the South of the U.

Description

The persecution of the Negro erupted again in Alabama, the old slave state in the South of the U.S. May 20. Spewing hatred, white thugs in the town of Montgomery attacked a busload of white and coloured students.

These mob scenes at the long-distance bus depot in the town came as a climax to a week of tension during which groups of white and coloured "freedom riders" have tried to challenge the "whites only" rule on inter-State buses.

Next day, May 21, Governor John Patterson declared martial law in Montgomery as a battle raged between howling white mobs and police amid stone missiles and tear gas bombs.

The Negro church leader the Rev. Luther King called for a massive campaign to end segregation in Alabama. He declared that Alabama had become the scene for a reign of terror and added: "It has sunk to the level of barbarity comparable to the tragic days of Hitler's Germany".